Cheap Shot (2 page)

“We had a real relationship,” he said,
feeling defensive. “We’ve been exclusive for the past year. That’s the longest
I’ve been with anyone.”

Dylan rolled his eyes. “Sad but true. You
may have been sharing a bed with her, but we both know that’s where it ended,
don’t we?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”
Jaxon asked, not at all sure he wanted to know.

“Sela loves you. She wanted a future with
you, but you couldn’t give her that, could you?”

“No.” Jaxon tipped back the beer, chasing
pain relief in the bottom of the bottle. “And you know why.”

“Jaxon, I know how hard it must have been
for you to find your old man like that, but it wasn’t your fault. You gotta
know that.”

“I do know that,” Jaxon said through
clenched teeth. “It was my mother’s fault for being a bitch and his fault for
being a coward who took the easy way out instead of standing up to her.”

Dylan looked at him for a long time. “Are
you listening to yourself? You have so much rage. It’s not healthy, man. What’s
worse is that you’re taking responsibility for the care of a woman you blame
for your father’s death.”

“She took care of me, kept a roof over my
head and food on the table when my old man checked out,” Jaxon said, shrugging
off his friend’s comments. “The least I can do is take care of her now.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you had to
break up with Sela.”

“I barely had time to see her. In case you
haven’t noticed, I work twelve-hour days. Now I have to drive to the home after
work and on weekends. I have a lot of decisions to make regarding my mother’s
care.”

“You could let Sela help you,” Dylan said
before thanking the waiter for setting down their beers. “You know she wants to
help you. Let her.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“She expects too much from me. I’ll only
disappoint her down the road. It’s better to let her go now… before she wastes
any more time on me.” It killed him to watch another man touch her. The goalie
had always had a thing for Sela, and he’d probably asked her out already.

“You’re going to lose her,” Dylan said,
slinging his arm over the back of the bench seat. “That doesn’t bother you?”

“Weren’t you paying attention?” Jaxon
asked. “
I
broke up with her.”

“And this time tomorrow night, she’ll be
out on her first date with Riley. You know he’ll do everything in his power to
make her forget you.”

It hurt like hell to think Sela would be
able to move on so quickly. “Nothing I can do about it.”

“Are you crazy?” Dylan leaned forward.
“Every guy I know would give his right arm to trade places with you, to have a
girl like Sela, and you’re throwing her away like she means nothing. All
because you can’t man up and admit you’re in love with her.”

Jaxon stood. “We’re done here. I’m gonna be
up at my cabin for a couple of days.”

“You’re running away ‘cause you can’t stand
to watch that,” Dylan said, hooking his thumb over his shoulder. “Why don’t you
be a man and tell her how you feel about her before it’s too late?”

Jaxon watched Sela smile at something Riley
said, and it felt as if she were clenching his heart in her fist. “It’s already
too late.”

One Year Later

Jaxon saw the swell of her hips in
those tight faded jeans, the way her long blond hair glided down her back, and
he knew it was
her
. Even though it had been a year since he’d seen or
spoken to Sela, he’d know her anywhere. High Rollers was the last place he’d
expected to find her though. Maybe she was back because she’d missed him as
much as he’d missed her…

He approached just in time to hear Dylan
say, “You should think about taking the job, Sela. We need a hostess in the
V.I.P. lounge, and it pays a hell of a lot better than waiting tables at—”

“What’s up?” Jaxon asked, feeling as if he
was trying to talk around a wad of cotton balls. His mouth was dry and his
palms were sweating, but it wasn’t until she turned the full force of those
baby blues on him that his heart started to race. “Sela.”

Without acknowledging him, she said to
Dylan, “I should get back to my sister and her friends. They’ll be wondering
what happened to me.”

“Your sister’s here?” Jaxon asked, trying
to ignore that she clearly didn’t want to talk to him. So much for his theory
she’d missed him.

“Yeah.” Sela finally glanced his way. “It’s
her bachelorette party. I tried to talk her into going somewhere else, but she
insisted we come here.”

“I’m glad you did,” he said, stepping
closer. “It’s good to see you.”

“I wish I could say the same.”

Jaxon had no intention of backing down.
He’d known that if their paths ever crossed again, he’d be met with an icy
reception. Not that he could blame her. He deserved it. “Your sister’s getting
married? That’s great. To Chad?”

“Yeah.” She slipped her phone out of her
purse when it rang and glanced at the call display before answering it. “Hey,
baby.” She smiled. “Yeah, I miss you too. Maybe I can slip out early and meet
you at your place?”

Jaxon and Dylan shared a glance. She’d
moved on. She had a new lover, and Jaxon took the news like a bullet to the
chest.

“Sorry about that,” she said, smiling at
Dylan. “I appreciate the job offer, but I don’t think it would be a good idea
for me to work here.”

“Sure, it would,” Jaxon said. He glanced at
her left hand. She may have a boyfriend, but he hadn’t been smart enough to put
a ring on her finger, so she was fair game. “Dylan’s right. You could make a
ton of money in the V.I.P. lounge, and you wouldn’t have to work more than
twenty hours a week, mostly on weekends. Your schedule must be crazy with this
being your last year of school.”

“I can’t work for you, Jaxon.”

It was the first time she’d said his name
in more than a year, and he hadn’t realized how hungry he’d been to hear that
sound. A flash of her face as she moaned his name raced through his head, and
he barely quashed the urge to pull her close. “Why not?”

“I think that’s pretty obvious.”

“There you are,” her younger sister, Kiki,
said, linking arms with Sela. “I thought you’d slipped out without saying
good-bye.” Her eyes lit up when she saw Jaxon, and she threw her arms around
him. “Jaxon! I was hoping we’d see you here!”

Sela reached for her sister’s arm, trying
to pull her back. “Stop it. You’re drunk and making a scene. Leave Jaxon alone.
Let’s go back to the table.”

“You go back to the table,” Kiki said,
shooing her away. “I want to have a word with my sister’s sexy ex.”

“Kiki, please,” Sela said, looking
desperate, “can we just go back to the table? I’ll buy you another drink.”

Jaxon smiled at Kiki as she stroked his
stubble. She was already loaded. The last thing she needed was another drink.
“I hear congratulations are in order, Kiki. Chad’s a great guy. I’m sure you’ll
be very happy together.”

“Oh, we will,” Kiki said, nodding
emphatically. “Some guys aren’t afraid of commitment.” She narrowed her eyes at
Jaxon. “Or the L word.” She giggled, covering her mouth when a hiccup escaped.

“Kiki, stop!” Sela said, her cheeks
burning.

“I should hate you for breaking my sister’s
heart,” Kiki said, patting Jaxon’s chest. “She cried for days when you broke up
with her. She wouldn’t eat, barely slept. Hell, it was weeks before we could
get her out of the house. She just holed up in the apartment and cried.”

Jaxon looked to Sela for confirmation, torn
between feeling like a jerk for putting her through that and being happy that
she’d hurt as much as he had after their breakup. “Is that right?”

“No! You can’t believe a woman who’s had as
many shots as she has.” Sela was obviously trying to save face.

Kiki linked her arm through Jaxon’s. “You
should totally come to the wedding. It’s next weekend. Chad would love to see
you.”

Jaxon had always gotten along well with Chad
and Kiki. Too bad he couldn’t say the same for Sela’s parents. They’d made no
secret of the fact they thought she could do better than him. Turned out they
were right. “It might be a little awkward, Kiki.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” she cried.

“Yes, it would,” Sela said, nudging her.
“Have you forgotten I’m bringing Sheldon?”

Kiki made a face that made Jaxon smile.
“How could I forget? But it’s my wedding, which means I get to invite anyone I
want. You have to come.” She tugged on Jaxon’s arm. “Please, please, please.”

Jaxon glanced at Sela. She seemed to be
praying he’d see reason and decline her sister’s invitation. “I’d love to,
Kiki.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Thanks for the invite.”

“My pleasure.” She grinned when Sela
stormed off. “I knew that would piss her off.”

“And you just love to get her all riled up,
don’t you?” Jaxon asked, grinning.

Kiki pouted. “I had to do something. I
think he’s going to propose to her.”

Jaxon felt Dylan’s hand on his shoulder,
and he knew the color must have drained from his face. His body felt lifeless.
“Her boyfriend is going to propose? When? How do you know?”

Kiki squealed with delight. “You do care!
Ha! I knew it!”

“Don’t play games with me, Kiki. Tell me
everything.” He guided her to a stool at the bar and asked the bartender for a
glass of water. Jaxon slipped onto the stool beside her.

She twisted her lips from side to side as
though she was contemplating the question. “He’s an art history professor at
her school. I think she was in one of his classes her junior year.”

“Isn’t there some rule against a faculty
member dating a student?” Dylan asked, claiming the stool on the other side of
Kiki.

“If there isn’t, there should be,” Jaxon
muttered.

“I think that only applies if the student’s
currently in one of his classes.” Kiki took a sip of water. “He’s not a dirty
old man or anything. He’s only eight years older than my sister.”

Jaxon didn’t care how old he was. His only
concern was whether Sela was in love with him. “You think she’d say yes if he
asks her to marry him?”

“I don’t know.” Kiki grabbed Jaxon’s
forearm. “That’s why I had to come here. I was hoping you could help me get
through to her.”

“What are you talking about?” Funny, Kiki
didn’t seem nearly as drunk anymore. Maybe she’d been putting on an act in
front of Sela, hoping to excuse her actions.

“She can’t marry him. She doesn’t love him,
not the way she loved you.”

Jaxon felt a wave of regret wash over him.
He’d done a lot of thinking since he’d let her go, and he didn’t like what he’d
found out about himself. He was a coward, just like his father. Instead of
sticking it out and fighting for their relationship, he’d set her free,
pretending he was doing both of them a favor. “Did she tell you that, Kiki?”

“She didn’t have to. I’ve known her all my
life. I know what she’s thinking and how she’s feeling, even when she’s trying
to hide her pain behind a fake smile.”

Jaxon raised an eyebrow. Kiki was as sober
as he was. “Why’d you pretend to be drunk earlier?”

A subtle smile passed over her lips before
she shrugged. “She’ll come down pretty hard on me for inviting you to the
wedding. If she thinks I was drunk, I’ll have an excuse.”

“Cunning, lady.” Jaxon smiled. “Very
cunning.”

“Are you sorry you hurt her? Do you regret
breaking her heart?” Kiki looked serious.

“More than I’ve ever regretted anything.”

Dylan smiled slightly. Jaxon had never
admitted that, not even to his best friends.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Kiki wrapped her
hand around Jaxon’s wrist. “You’ve got your work cut out for you if you want
her back. They’ve been seeing each other for a while, and it’s pretty serious.
At least from Sheldon’s perspective.”

Jaxon had never been the other man before,
but if he let Sela marry Sheldon without telling her how he felt about her,
he’d live with that regret for the rest of his life. “How do you suggest I
handle it?”

“Come to the wedding, for starters. You’ll
know why he’s not right for her as soon as you see them together. There’s no
magic, no spark.” Kiki chuckled. “Not like you two. Y’all were so hot you damn
near burned the apartment building to the ground a time or two.”

Jaxon winced. Sela and her sister shared a
two-bedroom apartment. While Sela had spent most nights at Jaxon’s penthouse,
they’d made the mistake of bunking at the apartment a few times only to receive
Kiki’s good-natured ribbing about sound proofing the next morning.

Kiki laughed. “You know I’m just teasing.
But trust me when I tell you I think she’s faking it with him.”

“Her feelings?” Jaxon asked, sipping the
water the bartender set down in front of him.

“That and her orgasms.”

Jaxon held his hand in front of his mouth
so he wouldn’t spray water across the bar. “Jesus, Kiki, do you really think I
need to hear that?”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so naïve. If
they’re contemplating marriage, they’re obviously having sex.”

Dylan cleared his throat. “Uh, Kik, there
are some things a man doesn’t want to hear about his ex. That’s one of them.”

“Then you’re jealous?” she asked, smirking
at Jaxon.

“This isn’t a game to me. I don’t want to
hurt her again, but I don’t want to set myself up for rejection either.” Jaxon
had never put his pride on the line for a woman, but he thought Sela was worth
the risk.

“I can’t make any promises,” Kiki said. “I
wish I could, but I don’t know whether my sister would be open to giving you
another chance.”

Jaxon had to decide whether he could live
with being vulnerable, even if the situation didn’t work out the way he hoped
it would. “I understand that.”

“We offered her a job,” Dylan said. “I
think you should convince her to take it. It would mean more money, fewer
hours, and she and Jaxon would get the chance to spend more time together, see
if that spark’s still there.”

Jaxon had no doubt it was still there. He’d
felt it as soon as he saw her. “Dylan’s right. Do you think you can talk her
into working for us?”

“I’ll do my damnedest.” She slid off the
stool before kissing Jaxon’s cheek. “You may have burned your last bridge with
my sister, but I’m willing to give you another chance. Don’t you dare make me
regret it.”

*   *   *

Sela was sitting at the table with a
plastered-on smile and a drink, thinking of all the ways she intended to
torture her sister when she got her alone. How could Kiki set her up like that,
inviting Jaxon to the wedding when she knew he was the last person Sela wanted
to spend an evening with?

“Did y’all miss me?” Kiki asked the girls
as she slipped into the seat next to her sister. “We ran into my sister’s ex,
and I had to invite him to the wedding.”

Eight pairs of eyes turned toward Sela as
eight mouths dropped open in unison. Most of the ladies Kiki had invited to the
party were her friends from work, so they didn’t know about Sela’s history with
Jaxon.

“Which one of those guys was your
boyfriend?” Kiki’s friend Janie asked. “Not that it matters. I’d take either
one.”

“The one in the gray shirt,” Sela said,
silently berating herself for noticing what he was wearing. “Jaxon Davis.”

“Not the guy who owns this place?” another
girl piped up.

“He’s one of the owners.” Sela twisted the
stem of her wineglass between her thumb and forefinger. She wanted to down the
wine, but she had agreed to go to Sheldon’s place after the party, and he
wouldn’t appreciate her showing up half in the bag. Propriety ranked above all
else in his opinion.

“Excuse me.”

Sela looked up and wished she hadn’t. Jaxon
stood over her, his hand on the back of her chair.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” he said. “I
just wanted to let you ladies know that drinks are on the house, and my
driver’s waiting outside to take you home whenever you’re ready.”